Blackburn Firebrand

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackburn_Firebrand

The Blackburn Firebrand was a British single-engine strike fighter for the Fleet
Air Arm of the Royal Navy designed during World War II by Blackburn Aircraft.
Originally intended to serve as a pure fighter, its unimpressive performance and
the allocation of its Napier Sabre piston engine by the Ministry of Aircraft
Production for the Hawker Typhoon caused it to be redesigned as a strike fighter
to take advantage of its load-carrying capability. Development was slow and the
first production aircraft was not delivered until after the end of the war. Only
a few hundred were built before it was withdrawn from front-line service in
1953.

In general, the Fleet Air Arm had required fighters that were capable of
navigating long ranges over sea and speed differential over attackers was not
critical. Defence of British naval bases was a RAF commitment but provision had
not been made for this and so the Admiralty accepted that it would have to take
on the duty. For this it needed an interceptor fighter and experience in the
Norwegian Campaign of early 1940 had also shown a high-performance,
carrier-based, single-seat fighter would be an advantage. Blackburn tendered
their B-37 design using the Napier Sabre 24-cylinder H-type engine, and this was
accepted by June 1940 with a proposal to order "off the drawing board" (meaning
without prototypes). Air Ministry Specification N.11/40—stating a minimum top
speed of 350 knots (650 km/h; 400 mph)—was raised to cover this design and an
order placed in January 1941 for three prototypes.

The B-37, given the service name "Firebrand" on 11 July 1941, was a low-winged,
all-metal monoplane. Aft of the cockpit the fuselage was an oval-shaped
stressed-skin semi-monocoque, but forward it had a circular-section,
tubular-steel frame that housed the 169-imperial-gallon (770 l; 203 US gal) main
fuel tank and the 71-imperial-gallon (320 l; 85 US gal) auxiliary fuel tank
behind the engine. The radiators for the neatly cowled Sabre engine were housed
in wing-root extensions. The large wing consisted of a two-spar centre section
with manually folded outer panels (with five degrees of dihedral) to allow more
compact storage in the hangar decks of aircraft carriers. To increase lift and
reduce landing speed the wing was fitted with large, hydraulically powered
Fairey-Youngman flaps that extended to the edges of the Frise ailerons. The
fixed armament of four 20 mm (0.79 in) Hispano autocannon was fitted in the
outer wing panels with 200 rounds per gun. The fin and rudder were positioned
forward of the elevator to ensure spin recovery and that the rudder would retain
its effectiveness. The mainwheels of the conventional landing gear were mounted
at the ends of the centre wing section and retracted inwards. The Firebrand was
unusual in the fact that there was an airspeed gauge mounted outside of the
cockpit so that during landing the pilot would not have to look down into the
cockpit to take instrument readings, foreshadowing the modern heads-up display.


Role
Strike fighter

National origin
United Kingdom

Manufacturer
Blackburn Aircraft

First flight
27 February 1942

Introduction
1945

Retired
1953

Primary user
Royal Navy

Produced
1942–47

Number built
220 + 3 prototypes

Variants
Blackburn Firecrest

The Firebrand did not see action in World War II, as TF 4s were not issued to
813 Naval Air Squadron until 1 September 1945. The squadron was disbanded 30
September 1946 without deploying to sea. It was reformed with TF 5s on 1 May
1947 and flew them from the carrier HMS Implacable, later HMS Indomitable, until
it was re-equipped with turboprop Westland Wyvern attack aircraft in February
1953. 827 Naval Air Squadron received their TF 5 and 5As on 13 December 1950 and
flew them primarily off the carrier HMS Eagle until it disbanded on 19 November
1952. A variety of second-line squadrons were issued Firebrands of various marks
for training or trials at one time or another.

In test pilot and naval aviator Captain Eric Brown's opinion the aircraft was
"short of performance, sadly lacking in manoeuvrability, especially in rate of
roll". The position of the cockpit even with the trailing edge of the wing gave
the pilot a very poor view over the nose, inhibited his ability to view his
target and to land his aircraft aboard a carrier, sufficient for Brown to call
it "a disaster as a deck-landing aircraft".

Specifications (Firebrand T.F. Mk IV)

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 38 ft 9 in (11.81 m)
Wingspan: 51 ft 3.5 in (15.634 m)
Height: 13 ft 3 in (4.04 m)
Wing area: 383 sq ft (35.6 m2)
Empty weight: 11,457 lb (5,197 kg)
Gross weight: 16,700 lb (7,575 kg)
Fuel capacity: 239 imp gal (1,090 l; 287 US gal)
Powerplant: 1 × Bristol Centaurus IX 18-cylinder radial engine, 2,520 hp (1,880
kW)
Propellers: 4-bladed Rotol, 13 ft 3 in (4.04 m) diameter

Performance
Maximum speed: 342 mph (550 km/h, 297 kn)
Cruise speed: 256 mph (412 km/h, 222 kn)
Range: 745 mi (1,199 km, 647 nmi)
Rate of climb: 2,600 ft/min (13 m/s)

Armament

Guns: 4 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Hispano autocannon
Rockets: 16 × RP-3
Bombs: 1 × 1,850 lb (840 kg) torpedo or 2 × 2,000 lb (910 kg) bombs




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